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Date: Monday, April 21, 1997 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: CDC Press Office (404) 639-3290
"Vaccines work -- they are superb, cost-effective tools to prevent disease," said Secretary Shalala. "During National Infant Immunization Week and throughout the year, we encourage parents and health care providers to stop and check preschoolers' shot records, to make sure that our children are getting the shots they need when they need them. We must keep working to achieve the high levels of full immunization that we have set for the year 2000."
As the nation marks National Infant Immunization Week, more American toddlers are getting their recommended baby shots on schedule than ever before. And the number of reported cases of diphtheria, mumps, tetanus, measles, rubella, polio and Haemophilus influenzae type b, once the most common cause of meningitis in young children, continue to be at or near record-low levels.
Yet while the national infant immunization rate remains at an all-time high of 76 percent, more than one million American children remain vulnerable to vaccine-preventable diseases. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's most recent National Immunization Survey, which surveys parents of preschoolers nationwide, only 62 percent of toddlers have had the most critical vaccinations in Detroit; 70 percent in Philadelphia; and 71 percent in Milwaukee.
Secretary Shalala said that National Infant Immunization Week constitutes a time to not only celebrate the progress made, but also to recommit to achieving immunization of at least 90 percent of all 2-year-olds with all recommended vaccinations by the year 2000. In 1994, President Clinton officially proclaimed "National Infant Immunization Week" as the last week in April every year, to focus attention on the target population of the Childhood Immunization Initiative -- infants and toddlers.
The initiative's five strategies include: improving immunization services for needy families, especially in public health clinics; reducing vaccine costs for lower-income and uninsured families; building community networks to reach out to families and ensure that young children are vaccinated as needed; improving systems for monitoring diseases and vaccinations; and improving vaccines and vaccine use.
(**Editors note: For information on local NIIW activities in your state, contact the CDC press office at (404) 639-3290. Information on NIIW and childhood immunization is also available on the Internet. Visit CDC's home page at www.cdc.gov/ for the most current information on childhood immunization.)